palisadesfandomcom-20200213-history
Ia
Ia is by no means your average human. After Sigil had managed to siphon off the powers of many Greco-Roman deities, he decided to test them out in various ways by replicating many of the stories told by the locals. Taking a page out of Pygmalion's tale, he decided to create a human from a statue. His chosen material was ice, for the ease with which it could be manipulated, and in the hope that some qualities would carry over: cold, sharp, distant. A statue of ice was formed in accordance with the classical ideals of beauty (because if you're going through this much trouble to make an entity, it may as well be stunning) and summarily brought to life. The first thing the being did was complain about how hot the area, then at room temperature, was. Amused that even some of the physical characteristics of the ice had carried over, Sigil named her directly for her element. Ia. Personality and Traits Though Sigil made Ia out of ice in an attempt to naturally (or unnaturally, depending on your viewpoint) limit her emotions, his attempt backfired. At the moment of her creation, all of the hormones a normal body would have produced from birth to the age of a twenty were crammed into her system. This has since evened out and subsided, but it compounded the issue in her early days; the chemicals in the body spark emotions into being, and she is seemingly incapable of controlling them as competently as the average human being would. Anger, happiness, sorrow, and other such emotions are often magnified to the extremes. Ia views her creator as a perfect being, much to his chagrin, and is absolutely devoted to him. She will happily do anything her creator asks of her. Such a devotion also takes the role of infatuation, which Sigil has refused to reciprocate. Regardless, this doesn't seem to dissuade or divert her, though she has become somewhat resigned to the one-sided nature of it in recent times. Ia is a reasonably tall human female, standing somewhere around 5'9". Her eyes are a very light blue, the traditional ice-like color most people imagine, and her skin is an extremely pale white. Fitting with the theme, her hair is a very light blonde, though not quite approaching white. Skills, Powers and Equipment Ia has been trained as a bodyguard from the moment of her "birth," by a diverse group of competent warriors and specialists Sigil has had ties with. She is quite comfortable with a variety of weapons across a wide range of eras. Special operations, dueling, military command, personal stealth, blindfighting, rank-and-file battles, underwater combat, skirmishing, and guerilla warfare are all fields she is capable in. In addition to these, she is an excellent pilot and driver, able to sit in most vehicles with a good idea of what she's doing. Though having no instruction in the arcane arts, Ia has been granted increased strength and speed, both of which come in very handy during a scrap. Her skin is all but impenetrable to conventional weaponry, similar to the fabled Achilles. However, while the skin is remarkably resilient, the rest of the flesh is not. Blunt weapons and/or excessive trauma will still cause plenty of internal harm. Due to her original element being ice, her body temperature is quite low. She considers room temperature to be quite hot, and will almost instantly burn or overheat in a truly warm area. This weakness is combated by her spear (see below). The equipment she carries, surprisingly enough, tends not to change. Her main weapon is a spear, one that is imbued with power matching a minor deity of winter. It allows her to manifest and shape ice at will, sap heat, or even bring down blizzards and winter storms. It should be noted that her ability to sap heat can reduce an area to absolute zero. This spear serves to keep the temperature of the area just around her low enough that she might remain comfortable. When attempting to blend into societies in which carrying spears about would draw an awful lot of attention, it is capable of reducing and shifting itself into a bracelet. A small chunk of crystal she wears as an earring has the power to inspire romantic feelings in others, from a slight pull to an overwhelming devotion. This is constantly active at a very low level. Though she is possessed of a suit of plate armor that has been custom-fitted and made nigh-impervious to damage, she typically wears what has been termed a "battledress." It is an elegant affair with little exposed metal, plates of godforged alloy being sewn inside. The cloth itself will not tear and is incapable of being soiled or stained. Ia does have an Artifact, though it doesn't appear to be particularly talkative. It is a silver choker that simply grants her infrared vision. The true purpose is to give her access to a small store of Balance, granting her slow but potent self-healing potential. Though it is hardly remarkable, Ia does carry a firearm. The model of choice is kinetic, a desert eagle. It, along with a surprising amount of ammunition, is tucked within the battledress. (We blame hammerspace.) Category:Party Members Category:Characters Category:NPCs